Last week I shared an inspiring project by the Michigan Department of Transportation. I was impressed that they retrofitted a segment of state highway with 12 feet of space for bicycling (six feet for riding and a six foot buffer zone). In the comments of that post an Oregon DOT employee pointed out that they’d done a similar project out in La Pine (about 30 miles southwest of Bend) back in October. This morning I confirmed details of that project.

As it turns out, there are many changes afoot in La Pine. The small town (pop. 6,000) became Oregon’s newest city in June 2011. Like many cities in rural Oregon, a state highway often doubles as main street. This can be a death knell for small towns because state highways are often high-speed — and high-crash — thoroughfares that do nothing to encourage the sense of community that’s crucial to a city’s success. La Pine’s leaders realized that their city will only work if they address conditions on U.S. Highway 97 — which runs through the heart of town.

In July 2011, just one month after officially becoming a city, a transportation engineering firm released the 254 page US 97/La Pine corridor plan. The plan looked at existing conditions on the 0.7 mile stretch of US 97 through La Pine and proposed ways to make it safer and more livable. Among the proposals was to add a buffered bike lane.

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Transportation for America

America's transportation system is half a century behind--causing unnecessary pollution, expense, and congestion. We need our leaders to invest in public transportation, high-speed passenger rail, streets safe for biking and walking, maintaining our roads and transit systems, and green innovation.